Back to School with Smart Technologies

SMART Technologies Inc., the global leader in interactive whiteboards, develops easy-to-use integrated products and services that improve the way the world works and learns.

The company introduced the first interactive electronic whiteboard in 1991 and says that it remains the industry leader. It has shipped more than 1.6 million of its SMART Board interactive whiteboards to over 100 countries worldwide since the product was introduced.

The company says its products “combine the simplicity of a whiteboard and the power of a computer. By touching the surface of a SMART Board interactive whiteboard, the user can control computer applications, access the Internet, write in digital ink and save and share work.”

Smart Technologies Inc., raised $660 million in the second-biggest initial public offering in the U.S. this year.

The Calgary-based company priced 38.8 million Class A shares at $17 each after offering 35.3 million for $16 to $18, according to a statement and a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Smart Technologies will receive 23 percent of proceeds. Selling shareholders including Intel Corp. and Apax Partners will get the rest, reaping a more than sixfold gain on average, the statement and filing show.

Smart Technologies’ initial sale, the biggest by a Canadian technology company in at least a decade opened today at $12.52. Nancy Knowlton, President and CEO of SMART. "We benefited from healthy year-over-year demand across all our geographic regions, particularly in North America. Our hardware and software solution continues to resonate with teachers and administrators, as they recognize the value of having the integrated SMART solution in the classroom." With awareness of the product building the timing may be perfect as we enter into the "back to school" period. Having opened at $18.00 and reached a low of $11.39 it's no doubt a good time to BUY SMART.

Search Market in China is only 10% of the United States, The Baidu story is only just beginning.

Clayton Reeves believes Baidu (BIDU) is a stock to buy now or regret later.

Their presence in the largest internet user community in the world will enable them to create incredible returns for their shareholders. Right now, the search market in China is only 10% of the United States, but in five years the picture will be different.

He believes the shares have been kept low because analysts are questioning the business model that these search companies currently use. However, Google has been plenty successful using that strategy to gain a stranglehold on the world search market and a brand that has enabled them to branch into operating systems and browsers.

Baidu could be the same such beast for the billions of Chinese residents that will access the internet in the next decade.

Baidu is also working on features to seize the key battlegrounds such as the evolving 3G mobile data market, music and video and ‘massive multi-user games’ or MMGs, where some rivals are already threatening to steal a march.

"We want to become a legendary company and the future is all ahead of us,"Jennifer Li, (chief financial officer of Baidi.com) says. "The Baidu story is only just beginning."

Google TV vs Apple TV

Google TV - Google is putting its Android software and Chrome Web browser on television and other home entertainment devices in an attempt to succeed where others have struggled: in merging television and the Internet.

Google TV will be available on television sets, Blu-ray players and companion set-top boxes through partnerships with Intel Corp. and Sony Corp. Special “input devices” will include a keyboard and remote-control-type pointing device.

The Internet giant, which is looking to expand beyond its lucrative online advertising business, is betting that more consumers will want to buy televisions that can connect to the Internet. ABI Research Inc. says demand for such sets is rising with the popularity of Internet content and estimates that 46% of flat-panel televisions will have Internet connections by 2013, up from 19% this year.

But analysts say Google will have to succeed where many, including Apple Inc., have tried and struggled. Apple TV, launched in 2007, is a set-top box that displays content from the Internet and iTunes on televisions. Apple has called it a "hobby," saying the number of units sold are "still small."

Google dominates the $60.4-billion online advertising market but has yet to make inroads in other mass media. It has broadened its reach into smart-phones through its Android mobile operating system. There it's surpassed Apple as the top operating system on U.S. smart-phones.

Apple TV - Apple TV is a network device that allows consumers to use an HDTV set to view photos, play music and watch video that originates from an Internet media service or a local network. Internet media services include the iTunes Store, YouTube, Flickr, or MobileMe.

By connecting directly to the iTunes Store, users can buy and rent movies, buy television shows, songs, albums, and music videos and subscribe to video and audio podcasts—much of the content in high definition. Consumers can browse and view YouTube videos and Flickr or MobileMe photo albums.

Apple TV can also sync or stream photo, music and video content from a network-connected computer running iTunes. Apple TV includes enhanced remote control and AirTunes capabilities.

Apple plans to continue offering new features through automatic software upgrades, leaving the door open to further utilization of its hardware capabilities and new software developments.

Salesforce.com and VMware Form Strategic Alliance to Launch VMforce™, the World’s First Enterprise Java Cloud

• VMforce will provide the trusted, open path to the cloud for 6 million enterprise Java developers, including the 2 million member Spring community
• VMforce will enable Java developers to instantly tap into Force.com platform services, including the Force.com database, Chatter collaboration, workflow, analytics and search
• VMforce will include new VMware vCloud technology that dramatically simplifies the management and orchestration of applications on VMware vSphere™ based infrastructure
• Part of the industry-leading Force.com cloud platform, VMforce will enable Java developers to quickly and easily build next-generation enterprise Cloud 2 apps that are instantly social, mobile, and collaborative

SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2010 -- Salesforce.com, [NYSE: CRM] the enterprise cloud computing company and VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in cloud infrastructure, today announced a partnership to jointly deliver, sell and support a new enterprise Java cloud called VMforce™. To be announced at an event today in San Francisco hosted by the Chief Executive Officers of the two companies, VMforce will bring together the technologies, expertise and communities of the two leading cloud computing companies driving the tectonic shifts in the information technology industry.

With VMforce, the more than 6 million enterprise Java developers, including the over 2 million developers using the Spring framework backed by the SpringSource division of VMware, will have an open path to cloud computing. Now, CIOs and IT departments will be able to leverage their existing programming skills and investments in Java applications, and take full advantage of the industry-leading Force.com platform to build Cloud 2 enterprise applications that are social and work on any mobile device in real-time. VMforce will dramatically simplify how enterprises and enterprise Java developers can harness the economics of cloud computing without compromising the flexibility, control and choice they require.

“Enterprise Java developers, welcome to Cloud 2," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "This fundamental shift incorporates cloud computing, real-time collaboration and mobile devices like the iPad to meet the new needs of the enterprise. Now, in partnership with VMware, we are delivering VMforce and bringing Java to Force.com so enterprise Java developers can create powerful new innovative Cloud 2 apps."

“Companies are looking for solutions that deliver the benefits of cloud computing while leveraging existing resources, expertise and infrastructure,” said Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware. “By creating a dramatically simplified solution for modern application development, VMforce is a significant step forward in offering our customers a path that bridges existing internal investments with the resources and flexibility of the cloud.”

VMforce is designed to deliver the first enterprise Java cloud that is:

• Trusted: Running on salesforce.com’s trusted global infrastructure, VMforce will inherit the benefits of a service delivery infrastructure that has received some of the most stringent security industry accreditations including ISO 27001, SysTrust and SAS70 Type II. Thousands of the largest companies worldwide are already working with VMware and salesforce.com. Now, with VMforce they can leverage the combined strength of both companies to take their mission critical enterprise apps to the cloud.
• Open: VMforce will support standard Java code: plain old Java objects (POJOs), Java Server Pages (JSPs), Java Servlets, and more through the popular Spring Framework. By building enterprise Java apps with Spring, companies will be able to easily port enterprise Java apps onto VMforce or vice versa.
• Elastic: With VMforce, applications can scale automatically. VMforce customers will not have to worry about scaling up app servers, databases or infrastructure to meet performance demand. VMforce can handle scalability automatically, as a service.
• Complete: VMforce will provide a comprehensive solution for enterprise Java development in the cloud, including the trusted global infrastructure, virtualization platform, orchestration and management technology, relational cloud database, development platform and collaboration services, application run time, development framework, tooling and more.
• Cloud 2: Cloud 2 combines next generation mobility, social collaboration and real-time information access, creating new levels of productivity and taking enterprise cloud computing the next level.

VMforce™: The Trusted Cloud for Enterprise Java Developers

VMforce will be the first mission critical deployment environment for enterprise Java apps in the cloud. VMforce will be jointly delivered by salesforce.com and VMware, combining the world's most popular language, Java, the world's most popular Java framework, Spring, the leading virtualization platform, VMware vSphere™, and running on the world's most trusted cloud platform, Force.com. VMforce will be designed to include:

• Spring Framework: VMforce will use the Spring Framework, the leading Java development framework which is backed by VMware’s SpringSource division. Spring makes it easy for developers to build powerful enterprise Java apps, increasing development productivity and runtime performance while improving test coverage and application quality. VMforce will also use the SpringSource Tool Suite, an integrated, tested and certified development environment offering the most complete set of Eclipse-based tools for creating Java apps.
• SpringSource tc server: VMforce applications will run on the tc Server® runtime, the Enterprise version of Apache Tomcat. tc Server is a wildly popular lightweight application server optimized for virtual and cloud environments.
• Force.com Chatter Services: As the world migrates towards Cloud 2 social and mobile applications, developers will be able incorporate collaboration services from Chatter in their applications. These pre-built services include profiles, status updates, groups, feeds, document sharing, the Chatter API and more.
• Force.com Development Platform and Services: Since VMforce will run on the Force.com platform, developers have access to pre-built business services that can be configured into their apps without requiring any custom coding. These services include search, identity and security, workflow, reporting and analytics, a robust web services integration API, mobile deployment, and more.
• Force.com Database: Developers using VMforce will get the benefits of the proven Force.com relational database, including automatic scalability, high availability, auto-tuning, back up and disaster recovery.
• VMware vCloud technology: VMware’s vCloud technology automatically manages the software stack that powers VMforce applications, freeing developers from the cost and complexity of managing hardware and software. VMware’s vCloud technology will onramp the Java application onto the cloud, automate the wiring of the application to the Force.com database, and manage the underlying vSphere virtualization platform.
• VMware vSphere™: The industry leading virtualization platform provides the building blocks for VMforce by providing the resource isolation, management, and virtualization for the Java applications.
  Force.com Cloud Infrastructure: VMforce will run on salesforce.com’s trusted global cloud computing infrastructure, which handles an average of 250 million transactions daily from more than 72,500 customers for their most important business applications and their most sensitive data.

Pricing and Availability
VMforce is currently scheduled to be available in developer preview in 2010 and pricing will be announced at that time.

Additional Resources:

• For more information about VMforce, please visit http://www.vmforce.com
• Follow @salesforce and @VMware on Twitter, and join the conversation with #VMforce
• A live web cast of the VMforce event today will begin at approximately 10:30 am PT. Please visit www.vmforce.comto watch.
• Blog posts from salesforce.com’s Parker Harris and Peter Coffee can be found at http://cloudblog.salesforce.com/.
• Blog post from salesforce.com’s Anshu Sharma can be found at http://developer.force.com.
• Blog post from VMware’s Steve Herrod can be found at: http://blogs.vmware.com/console/2010/04/vmforce-and-vmwares-open-paas-strategy.html
• Blog post from VMware’s Rod Johnson can be found at: http://blog.springsource.com/2010/04/27/vmforce-spring-cloud/

About salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company. Based on salesforce.com’s real-time, multitenant architecture, the company’s platform and CRM applications (http://www.salesforce.com/crm) have revolutionized the way companies collaborate and communicate with their customers, including:

• The Sales Cloud, for sales force automation and contact management
• The Service Cloud, for customer service and support solutions
• Chatter, for social collaboration
• The Force.com platform, for custom application development
• The AppExchange, the world’s leading marketplace for enterprise cloud computing applications

Salesforce.com offers the fastest path to customer success with cloud computing. As of January 31, 2010, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 72,500 customers including Allianz Commercial, Dell, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, and SunTrust Banks.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM.” For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2010 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About VMware
VMware delivers solutions for business infrastructure virtualization that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform – VMware vSphere™ – customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 170,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

VMware, VMware vSphere, SpringSource and VMware vCloud are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. The use of the word “partner” or “partnership” does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate, but are not limited, to, VMforce availability and features and customer deployments. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) changes in macroeconomic conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the cloud-computing market, and new product and marketing initiatives by competitors; (iv) customers’ ability to develop, and to transition to, new products, (v) the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology initiatives; (vi) rapid technological and market changes in cloud computing; (vii) changes to product development timelines; (viii) the ability to protect intellectual property rights; (ix) successful integration of VMware and Salesforce technologies and go-to-market deployments; and (x) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware and salesforce.com periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K and current reports on Form 8-K, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware and salesforce.com disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

Clearwire Reports Strong First Quarter 2010 Results

• Total Ending Subscribers of 971,000, Up 94% Year Over Year
• Total Net Subscriber Additions of 283,000 - Greater than Full Year 2009
• Wholesale Subscriber Base Triples During the First Quarter 2010
• First Quarter Revenue of $107 Million - Up 72% Year Over Year
• Company Surpasses 50 million People Covered By Its Networks
• 4G WiMAX Smartphones By Samsung and HTC Expected to be Available Before End of 2010

KIRKLAND, Wash., May 05, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR), a leading provider of wireless broadband services, today reported its unaudited condensed consolidated financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2010.

"Customer demand for 4G services is truly making 2010 the year of mobile broadband, as always-on true mobile broadband keeps people connected to the information, services and applications that matter most," said Bill Morrow, CEO of Clearwire. "With record breaking subscriber growth, a robust wholesale 'network of networks' approach to 4G, and customer usage that far surpasses anything seen on 3G networks today, Clearwire is standing at the forefront of the next evolution in telecommunications and technology."

Clearwire ended the first quarter with 971,000 total subscribers consisting of 814,000 retail subscribers and 157,000 wholesale subscribers. During the first quarter 2010 Clearwire added 283,000 net new subscriber additions including 172,000 retail additions and 111,000 wholesale additions. Greater than one-third of our wholesale subscribers consist of subscribers on dual mode devices that reside outside of our currently launched markets, but for whom we receive monthly recurring revenue.

Revenue for the first quarter 2010 was $106.7 million, a 72% increase over first quarter 2009 revenue of $62.1 million and a 33% increase over fourth quarter 2009 revenue of $79.9 million. Retail average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) was $42.77 in the first quarter 2010. Retail ARPU in the first quarter includes the positive impact of $1.22 related to a prior period adjustment to account for incentive discounts over the lives of customer contracts. Without this adjustment first quarter ARPU was $41.55.

Retail cost per gross subscriber addition (CPGA) improved to $439 in the first quarter 2010, down from $624 in the fourth quarter 2009. The decline in CPGA is largely a function of greater gross additions, better overall marketing efficiencies and fewer market launches.

Retail monthly churn also improved to 3.0% in the first quarter 2010 compared to 3.6% in fourth quarter 2009. During the first quarter, the Company completed the conversion of the Hawaii, Seattle and Carolina markets to its 4G network, and the subscriber churn rate in the non-conversion markets was 2.7%.

The first quarter 2010 net loss attributable to Clearwire was ($94.1) million, or ($0.47) per basic share, as compared with the fourth quarter 2009 net loss attributable to Clearwire of ($98.7) million, or ($0.55) per basic share. The first quarter 2009 net loss attributable to Clearwire was ($71.1) million or ($0.37) per basic share.

The first quarter 2010 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and non-cash expenses related to capital assets (adjusted EBITDA) loss was ($251.6) million, an improvement from fourth quarter 2009 adjusted EBITDA loss of ($295.7) million. The adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter 2009 was ($144.0) million.

2010 Business Outlook

Clearwire continues to expect to cover up to 120 million people with its 4G network by the end of 2010. Within this footprint, services will be offered under both the CLEAR(R) brand name, and those of the Company's strategic wholesale providers which will vary across individual markets.

The Company also continues to expect that total subscriber levels will triple in 2010 from the end of 2009 levels and that it will end 2010 with more than 2 million total subscribers. The Company expects average 2010 retail CPGA to be in the mid $500's and consistent with the average CPGA for 2009, while average retail ARPU is now expected to remain above $41.00 for 2010.

The timing and extent of our future plans are subject to a number of conditions, including the performance in our launched markets and access to additional funding. The Company currently expects to have full year 2010 net cash utilization between $2.8 billion and $3.2 billion.

In recent weeks, the Company has expanded its 4G mobile broadband network service area with five new markets covering nearly five million people, including Houston, TX in March, and earlier this week in Harrisburg, Reading, Lancaster and York, PA.

Clearwire also today announced plans to launch 4G mobile broadband service in 19 additional cities this summer, including previously announced markets Kansas City, KS; St. Louis, MO; Salt Lake City, UT, and the core area of Washington, D.C. and newly announced markets Nashville, TN; Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, FL; Rochester and Syracuse, NY; Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Visalia, CA; Wilmington, DE; Grand Rapids, MI; Eugene, OR; and Yakima and Tri-Cities, WA.

In addition, the Company reiterated its plans to launch Clearwire's 4G network in other major markets across the country by the end of 2010, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The Company also expects to launch two WiMAX smartphones by the end of 2010. From Samsung, an Android-based 3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use, and a 3G/4G/WiFi enabled phone from HTC.

Other Results of Operations

Cost of goods and services and network costs for the first quarter, 2010 increased 96% to $144.6 million compared to $73.6 million for the first quarter 2009. This increase is due to increased tower lease and backhaul expenses resulting from the launch of 4G markets.

Selling, General and Administrative (SG&A) expense for the first quarter 2010 increased 106% to $223.8 million compared to $108.5 million for the first quarter 2009. The increase is primarily due to higher sales and marketing and customer care expenses in support of the launch of new markets, as well as additional resources, headcount and shared services that we have utilized as we continue to build and launch our 4G markets. Employee headcount at March 31, 2010 increased to approximately 3,595 compared to 2,015 employees at March 31, 2009.

Higher network expansion activities led to an increase in Capital Expenditures (CapEx) to $690 million in the first quarter 2010 from CapEx of $112 million for the first quarter 2009. Net cash spending, including operating activities, capital expenditures and spectrum purchases; net of proceeds from financing activities, was $842 million. We ended the first quarter of 2010 with cash and investments of approximately $3.1 billion invested primarily in U.S. Treasury securities.

Webinar with Linchpin author Seth Godin

Thanks to Steve Cunningham for this mornings webinar with Seth Godin. I now know what to do with my Lizard Brain and how to go forward. Key takeaways for me:

1. Society pushes average as it's easy to handle

2. Make all the important decisions at the beginning

3. Own your own space, Blog, Website, TV, new media

4. Become more generous, do more, create a gift

5. SHIP - make it go out the door.

FULL VIDEO SUMMARY OF LINCHPIN?

In preparation for our upcoming webinar with Seth Godin, we thought we would show you this exclusive summary previously only available to Read It For Me Pro subscribers. We thought that if you are going to watch the webinar, you should at least have a good sense of what the book is about. We hope you enjoy!

WATCH THE VIDEO!

WANT A FREE COPY OF LINCHPIN?

We've got 5 copies of Linchpin to give away this week. This is a book you'll want to read. Got one already? Win it for a friend!

WIN A COPY OF LINCHPIN

Chinese Opinion - Without Google? It is fine

Google’s bombshell announcement to retreat from China puts the country’s Internet management system in the spotlight. In the west’s eyes, there is no network freedom in China and Chinese netizens are kept silent out of fear, the truth might be another story.

The Internet world is characterized by opening and anarchy. To maintaining a healthy and stable Internet environment, China has its obligation to block any Internet contents relating to national security, pornography and violence.

Moreover, China is not the only one with the management of Internet. In US, after the 9/11 attacks, George. W. Bush enacted the The 2001 USA Patriot Act to censor the Internet and authorize the US government or law enforcing departments to block any on-line content that endangers national security and in Germany, laws also require all the Internet cafes to censor and block anything about racism, terrorism, violence and pornography.

So the Internet world is not absolutely free, but it can develop well by proper management. Under the government’s regulation, China’s Internet society and business are not refrained, but going into their prosperity.

The Chinese Internet society is expanding in terms of volume and power. Internet users hit 384 million by the end of 2009, according to report by China Internet Network Center (CNNIC). It has the largest population of Internet users.

Besides that, Chinese netizens are flexing their muscles. As more and more news is exposed and hyped by Internet instead of traditional media, the Internet has grown to be an independent source of news and a main channel for grass root netizens to express their opinion and participate in the public affairs. Netizen’s supervision has helped improve the governance and achieve judicial justice

It is still clearly remembered that netizens’ scrutiny of a traffic accident, in which a wealthy drag racer killed a pedestrian at a high speed in Hanzhou the capital city of Zhejiang province, forced the police to revise its original arbitrary investigation statement and finally got the driver into jail. The Internet is on its way to promote China to be a more open and democratic society.

China’s Internet industry also shows its energy. The economic scale of China’s Internet industry reached 74.3 billion yuan in 2009, increasing by 30.7% to 2008 and it is estimate to be more than 100 billion yuan in 2010, according to the report by iResearch, a professional organization specializing in in-depth studying of customer behavior in Internet media and e-commerce.

The Internet market is also full of opportunities. Quite a number of Chinese Internet enterprises grow to be a giant from scratch. China’s privately hold the Alibaba Group, has reached Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions and successfully purchased Yahoo.cn in 2005 and its subsidiary Alibaba.com is the global leader in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce. This has proved to world that Internet companies can succeed in China if they operate in the right way.

Baidu defeats Google in the Chinese market. Compared to Google, Baidu does a better job in the understanding of the local market, understanding of Chinese characters in Mandarin and the relations with advertisers.

China’s flourishing Internet industry and society demonstrates the country's Internet world develops well under its characteristic management. The market will continue its development in its own way, no matter whether there is Google.cn or not. It is unfair to China that the west puts their finger into China’s Internet regulation.

Source: China Daily

One number. Many ways to sell you stuff.

Google Voice is what Fortune’s Apple 2.0 columnist Philip Elmer-DeWitt has called “the universal telephone number and voice mail system the telcos should have offered us years ago.”

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a telecommunications service by Google launched on 11 March 2009. The service provides a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application. Inbound and outbound calls to US (incl. Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

The service is configured and maintained by the user in a web-based application, styled after Google's e-mail service, Gmail. Users must have an established U.S. telephone service to activate Google Voice. Users must configure this and optionally, additional phone numbers that ring simultaneously when the Google Voice number receives a call. The user may answer and receive the call on any of the ringing phones. Google Voice provides additional features such as voicemail, call history, conference calling, call screening, blocking of unwanted calls, and voice transcription to text of voicemail messages. Received calls may be moved between configured telephones during a call.

The next best thing to come out of Canada after the Blackberry?

Smart Technologies a new star on the IPO horizon

Canada has a new technology star coming to public markets, with Calgary-based Smart Technologies reportedly preparing for an initial public offering that could value the company at as much as $2-billion (U.S.).

Smart has made its name as a maker of digital whiteboard technologies that have rapidly become popular in classrooms and boardrooms. The firm was quietly involved in one of the biggest tech deals of the last couple years in Canada when the founders sold a stake to private-equity firm Apax Partners, another deal that RBC advised on. Intel Capital and the founders are looking at an IPO of as much as 20 per cent of the company.

Google Stock Down, Earnings, Revenue, Clicks and Price Per Click All Up

Google annouced its results for the 4th quarter beating analyst estimates.

Revenue rose 17% from a year ago on strong ad sales.

Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, excluding traffic acquisition costs, was $4.95 billion, slightly higher than the $4.92 billion analysts were expecting. Including those costs, Google posted total revenue of $6.67 billion.

Earnings were $2.19 billion, or $6.79 a share, higher than the analyst expectations of earnings per share of $6.50, and up from year-ago earnings of $1.62 billion, or $5.10 per share.

Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenue shared with Google’s partners, totaled $1.72 billion and represented 27 percent of ad revenue.

Paid clicks rose 13 percent from a year ago and the average cost per click increased 5 percent.

However despite the good news Google shares are down 5% to $554.21 in aftermarket trading.

New Google Nexus One vs iPhone

CES 2010